"They've gone, we're human"... Being Human Series 5 - A Review

At long last Being Human has come to an end, and not a moment too soon as to be honest it's never been more boring or underwhelming.

The first thing to address is that Annie is now gone, replaced by Alex, who is no-where near as interesting or likeable. So what we're left with is three, count them three, boring protagonists who I hate. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I am against the idea of changing the cast and replacing the old protagonists, I just wish we'd got something better than this.

So the series starts with Alex and Tom releasing Hal from imprisonment in a chair for detox from blood. Tom and Hal get jobs at a hotel where a mysterious old man is staying. We find out through flashbacks that he's the devil, trapped in that body by a blood ritual that Hal cocked up years ago. At this point do I even need to go on? They have the devil and a contrived way to stop him, the rest of the series is just padding at this point. Some more stuff happens, none of it interesting, they kill the devil and their curses are removed, and yet despite this Alex is now alive. She didn't have a body, this doesn't make any sense.

So yeah, the series sucks, it's predictable from the word go, and doing the devil, and saying he's the cause of their curses removes all ambiguity the show had, and really just delves it into a parody of itself. Much as Phil Davis is chewing the shit out of the scenery and giving a couple of vaguely entertaining moments they are short lived, and overwhelmed by the stupidity of them doing the devil at all.

In short, a shit ending to a show that got lost along the way. Watch Being Human up to series three then block the rest from your memory. I know that's what I'll be doing.

" That's the funny thing about saviours: they can make one a little... dependent."... Being Human Series 4 - A Review

Oh boy... this is where it all goes wrong...this is where Being Human begins to fail.

Between series Nina has been killed, as has the old one who showed up at the end of the previous series who looked like he was going to be an interesting villain. The series starts with Tom begging to move in with George and Annie. George now has a baby and has gone mad with paranoia over vampire attacks, and has protected his and Nina's baby with a bunch of crosses... despite being Jewish... so him using crosses makes no sense... Anyway he's captured by the vampires and forces a change into a werewolf to save his baby and dies as a result, there is now only one of the original cast left. A new vampire moves in; Hal, an old one, whose previous werewolf and ghost housemates died and moved on to the other side. Hal is a total pussy and I hate him... a bunch of stuff happens, none of it interesting, they meet a sucubus and the young vampire from the previous series shows up. Then at the end the plot finally remembers to happen and Mark Gatiss shows up as an old one, who wants to take George and Nina's baby as his own, because if she dies then it fulfils a prophecy or some shit. Annie blows up Mark Gatiss and the baby and passes over; oh also Hal is responsible for the death of a girl named Alex, and she is the new ghost... but no-one cares.

Now while the loss of Nina and George was a choice of the actors and not the writers it still feels shit to lose them without any decent build up or emotional pay off, like when Mitchell died and the replacements, in the shape of Hal and Tom are both awful. Hal's emotional turmoil just comes off as whiny with occasional lip quivering... Tom is much to naive and goody-two shoesish to be of any interest. So the cast dynamic just doesn't fit.

Before this in Being Human death was always a big deal, characters rarely killed, and when they did it was enough to drive them mad with guilt. Now they treat it like an action film, where killing vampires left right and centre is cool, so all the emotional impact is gone.

The plot is also completely not Being Human style, with all this end of the world prophecies bullshit and whatnot, before it was always small emotional stories, that was about characters personal responses to little tragedies and not about trying to save the world from the boring apocalypse. Then Mark Gatiss shows up and chews the scenery and you think maybe there's something salvageable from this whole mess, but then they kill him and all hope dies.

In short, just awful, they ruined it and it will never be fixed.

"So you want me to be your heir?"... Being Human Series 3 - A Review

Series 3 is the best series of Being Human, the characters were at their emotional best, the writing was tight, the stories intelligent and the overall tone at its darkest.

George, Mitchell and Nina have moved into a defunct Bed and Breakfast in Wales, George and Nina are keen to move on with their lives, but Mitchell is severely depressed over the loss of Annie and racked with guilt over the box tunnel twenty, the name given to his mass murder at the end of the previous series. Mitchell travels to the other side to rescue Annie, and meets a ghost named Lia, who leads him through his memories, until he realises that she was one of the twenty and she predicts that he will be killed by a werewolf, a wolf shaped bullet, as she puts it. George and Nina end up transforming in the same place and they realise that they have had sex whilst in wolf form. Mitchell rescues Annie from purgatory and she starts living with them again. They meet a young vampire named Adam, and try to keep him away from drinking blood, they send him to some older vampires, who are weird sex fiends, so they end up rescuing him and sending him off into the world to figure out life on his own. They discover a zombie, who came about when Michell travelled to the other side and her soul could not pass, they try to help her, but she eventually dies for good. Mitchell meets a vampire named Graham, who is a fan of his exploits and keeps a scrapbook of news cuttings about the box tunnel twenty, Mitchell is forced to kill him before he commits a similar attorcity. At the same time, Nina and George discover that  Nina is pregnant from the werewolf sex and Mitchell and Annie decide to try a relationship. George and Nina, concerned about their baby seek out McNair, a surly, vampire hunting, Werewolf and his son Tom, they stay at the B&B for a short while, and Mitchell is so concerned for his safety that he offers McNair to the vampire couple who adopted Adam for a wolf fight, where they put a human in a cage with a werewolf for sport. However they kidnap George, Nina and Tom as well and Mitchell and Annie get locked in the cage and nearly torn apart by the wolves. Then at the hospital they discover Herrick, who is back to life, but has no memory of his previous life; they take him to live in their house, with Mitchell desperate to kill him, but Nina and George, convinced of his new nature prevent Mitchell from doing so. Herrick discovers Mitchell's scrapbook of news cuttings and calls the police on him. Whilst George and Nina visit George's father's funeral, then try to help his ghost pass to the other side the B&B is visited by a young, female police detective, investigating Nina's report and makes Mitchell nervous, her presence also awakes Herrick's blood lust, confusing him massively. Annie tries to investigate the box tunnel twenty, and is shocked when she and the police officer come to the same conclusion that Mitchell is responsible and he is arrested. At the same time McNair and Tom have returned, and McNair, who was turned during a wolf fight that Herrick resided over tries to kill Herrick whilst in werewolf form, but Herrick stabs him. Then when the police officer enters Herrick's room his blood lust completely takes over and his true nature is revealed he kills her and then he stabs Nina. Herrick rescues Mitchell from prison, then puts him in a cage with George who nearly kills him in his anger over what happened to Nina, until Tom comes and rescues George. Herrick and Mitchell are talking about their future and Mitchell stakes him, killing Herrick for good. Later on, George, Annie and Nina, who has survived her stabbing and is massively pregnant much faster than a normal rate are at home when Mitchell comes back and asks George to kill him, George is about to when an one of the oldest vampires, an old one, enters and tells him that he won't allow Mitchell to die and that he wants George and Nina's child. George stakes Mitchell, turns and tells the old one that he has a fight on his hands.

This is a fantastic series because there is no real villain, but the emotional stakes had never been higher. The way they brought Herrick back was brilliant and allowed Jason Watkins to show his range as an actor. The loss of Mitchell was tragic, but they built it up well over the series, so it made sense.

In short, the best series of a great show, also the last good series of the show... it is all down hill from here.

"Look at us both. Covered in other people's blood and talking about morality"... Being Human Series 2 - A Review

When Being Human series 2 first came along I was surprised at just how dark it went, the more humorous edge of the first series was almost completely gone and in its place was some real personal drama. This was a change for the better, most definitely.

Following the death of Herrick, there are now vampires running rampant with no leader and no direction, which Mitchell and George discover from Daisy and Ivan, an unusual vampire couple. Nina has discovered she is a werewolf and this puts a serious strain on her relationship with George. Annie meanwhile is visible again and has got a job at the local pub, where she meets Nathan, a customer with some serious issues. Mitchell meets Lucy, a doctor working at the hospital and starts to have a bit of a flirtation with her. At the same time a mysterious organisation led by a priest named Kemp and the mysterious professor Jaggett are taking werewolves and killing them under the pretence of trying to cure them. Nina leaves upon seeing the depths Mitchell and George will sink to to keep their secrets safe, but is met by Kemp, who offers to 'cure' her. When Nathan comes on strongly to Annie she gets scared and becomes invisible again, Nathan is goaded into a car accident by spirits from the other side, when he dies from his injuries he nearly takes Annie to the other side with him, but resists at the last moment. Mitchell takes on the role of the vampire leader, and works with the police chief to keep any vampire attacks quiet. When Nina goes in for the 'cure' she is saved at the last minute by professor Jaggett, who turns out to be Lucy. George gets a job as a language teacher and tries to put the werewolf out of commission with sleeping pills, but then is unable to control his rage as a result. He also meets Sam, a single mother, with whom he starts a relationship. Annie learns how to reject the pull of the spirit world with the help of the ghost of a WWII fighter pilot. Mitchell sets up the vampires as a sort of AA group to give up drinking blood, but secretly supplies Ivan with blood so the others will think he is strong, and that they can follow his example. We see an incident from Mitchell's past where he first learned to experience compassion for humans and this is reflected in his growing relationship with Lucy. George moves in with Sam and her daughter, Molly. We see that Kemp's hatred for supernatural beings springs from his past when vampires killed his family before his eyes. He convinces Lucy that all vampires are evil, even Mitchell, and they blow up the vampire's meeting place. George, unaware of daylight savings time, turns into a werewolf at a school parents evening for Molly, but manages to get to the cage he has built in time, but not before Molly sees him. Nina convinces him to go to Kemp's institute. Mitchell and Daisy, who both survived the blast, go onto a train and brutally murder twenty people. Annie and George head towards the institute, leaving Mitchell in a blood fuelled rage at the house. Annie tries to get sent to the other side by Kemp, but is unsuccessful. Mitchell discovers who Lucy is and attacks the institute. George and Nina learn the truth and try to escape, rescuing Mitchell in the process, however Kemp forces Annie to the other side, despite her having changed her mind. Lucy follows them to a small house in the country where she pleads forgiveness, but is killed by Kemp. However Annie exits the other side long enough to pull Kemp through, then sends George and Mitchell a message, pleading for rescue. Mitchell firmly vows they will rescue her. In an epilogue we see Herrick resurrected through a blood ritual performed by Daisy and Kara, his most loyal servant.

The story and characters were very strong here, with a dark, yet relateable villain in the form of Kemp and some really interesting moral dilemmas held through Mitchell taking over the vampires. The episodes built to a masterful climax, with all the characters going through strong emotional arcs.

In short, better than the first series, a great continuation.

"Just a small good deed in the darkness"... Being Human Series 1 - A Review

So given that tonight marks the return of Being Human, one of the best British shows in years that got sadly broken and ruined in series 4 I have decided to take a look at the show and remind myself how good it was and how it got ruined.

Our three main characters at the start of the show are Mitchell, a vampire; George, a werewolf and Annie, a ghost. They share a house and try to live normal lives despite their unique conditions.

The vampires in the show don't need to drink blood to survive, it is merely a powerful addiction for them. They can also go outside during the day and are not any more strong or fast than any normal human. This makes them a very unique depiction of a character type that has been somewhat overused in recent years; this makes them something more interesting to watch, and it is interesting to watch Mitchell struggle with his addiction.

The Werewolves are brought back to more their traditional roots of only changing at the full moon and completely against their will. This is much more powerful dramatically than the recent spate of werewolves who can change whenever they want. This has brought lycanthropy back into being a curse instead of a superpower.

The Ghosts are invisible to all but other supernaturals (except for Annie early on in series 1, I'll get to it) and can teleport. They are probably the least interesting of the types, with the only really interesting thing being that they always wear the clothes they had on when they died, but they change the way they are worn depending on their mood.

Series 1 begins with Mitchell and George having moved into a house and discovering the ghost of Annie, a former tenant have settled in and are trying to live an ordinary life. Mitchell has recently, in a fit of lust, turned a co-worker, Lauren, at the hospital where he and George work into a vampire. Annie, who is becoming visible to people again, sees her fiance Owen with a new girlfriend and reverts to being invisible. Meanwhile Herrick, the vampire who turned Mitchell, is beginning to up the recruitment of new vampires. George meets a werewolf named Tully who teaches him how to deal with the wolf by dragging a chicken on a string in a mile wide circle so that the wolf follows the smell and doesn't hurt anyone. However when he discovers that Tully was the werewolf who turned him, he tells him to leave and never come back. At this time he also meets Nina, a nurse at the hospital, who he becomes very attracted to. Annie meets a ghost called Gilbert who helps her come to terms with being a ghost and upon falling in love with her, he resolves his unfinished business and crosses through a door to the other side. Mitchell befriends a young boy, but is mistaken for a paedophile, until he eventually has to save the kid and turn him into a vampire when he gets hit by a car. Annie discovers that Owen killed her. Haunted by the earlier events Mitchell falls back on his addiction and begins helping Herrick again. George begins dating Nina, but is terrified about her finding out the truth about him. Annie confronts Owen, but finds him to be not scared of her and completely vindictive against her. George and Annie rescue Mitchell from the vampires, but Lauren is killed in the process. Owen once again confronts Owen and whispers something we don't hear in his ear, which drives him insane and opens a door for her, which she turns down when Herrick arrives at the house and stakes Mitchell, wounding him and sending him to the hospital. After Mitchell is brought back to life by drinking the blood of an old girlfriend who was already dying he sets up a meeting with Herrick for a fight to the death, but George tells Herrick to meet him in a different place and is turning into a werewolf at the same time, and Herrick is torn apart, however in the werewolf rage he accidentaly scratches Nina. They try to settle down for their normal lives again.

The characters are very strong, all of them going through a lot of emotional trauma, but ultimately managing to come out on the other side and continue with their lives. The performances reflect this, with particular note going to Russel Tovey as George and Jason Watkins as the villainous Herrick.

I don't really have a favourite episode or least favourite episode because they are put together in such a way that it is hard to remember what happened in which ones, especially since I haven't watched them in a while. This is probably the weakest of the good series, but still is very good.

In short, a good start to a great show, Definitely worth a watch.

"The Once and Future King"... Merlin - an Overview

So, the other day Merlin came to an end. As such it seems as good a time as any to tell my opinions on it.

I'll start by saying that I enjoyed Merlin overall, and thought it was entertaining, though it wasn't without it's flaws.

The story is a retelling of the Arthurian Legends told from the point of view of Merlin, who in this version is a young man and of a similar age to Arthur. Merlin journeys to Camelot and is taken in by Gaius, the court physician, who very quickly becomes aware of Merlin's immense magic and warns him that he must keep it a secret as magic has been outlawed by Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father and the current king of Camelot. Merlin soon finds himself in Arthur's service and meets within caves deep beneath the castle, Kilgharrah, the last of the dragons; the dragon informs Merlin that his destiny is to protect Arthur and help him build a kingdom where magic can be seen as a force for good once again. Then the first two series or so follow a basic pattern every episode, bad person with magic turns up to Camelot and tries to kill Arthur, Merlin stops them with sneaky uses of magic. Some important exceptions as that they rescue a young druid boy named Mordred; Arthur falls in love with Gwenivere, a serving girl in the castle; they meet Morgause, the half sister of Morgana, ward of King Uther and Merlin sets Kilgharrah free and learns from his long absent father that he is a dragon lord and as such can control and summon the great dragon. Series two ended with Morgana being taken away by Morgause. Morgana returned at the beginning of series three and a new type of predictable story occurred, Morgana being secretly evil and doing evil things and looking at the camera now and again to remind the audience at home how evil she is... However along the way that series had some important developments, like they met Gwaine and Percival and Elian, Gwen's brother, who, along with Lancelot, who they met earlier in the show, would later become knights. Upon the discovery that Morgana is evil and a sorceress and that she was secretly Uther's daughter, she was banished from Camelot and set out to claim the throne she felt rightfully hers and planted a mole in Camelot in the shape of Agravaine, Arthur's Uncle, who does is secretly evil and does evil things and looks at the camera now and again to remind the audience at home how evil he is... Uther is killed, which makes Arthur king, and gives Merlin more hope that magic will return to Camelot. Ultimately Agravaine and Morgana are defeated, though Morgana is still a threat and Arthur, who has pulled the sword from the stone, is safe as king and now marries Gwenivere. The final series then sees Arthur give a now grown Mordred entrance into the knights of the round table, which causes Merlin much grief as he has forseen Arthur's death at Mordred's hand. What follows should be an epic mounting of tension until something finally snaps and the prediction comes true, and some of it is... but also you get a bit where Gwen is possessed by Morgana and starts doing secretly evil things and looks at the camera now to remind the audience at home how evil she is... fortunately this gets fixed, and they get back to the actual plot, where Mordred leaves Arthur's side upon an old druid friend of his being killed, and he and Morgana mount a war against Arthur. Arthur is mortally wounded and must be transported by Merlin to Avalon, it is here that Arthur finally discovers that Merlin is a sorcerer and slowly comes to terms with this news, however Arthur dies because Merlin didn't think to use his dragon friend to fly them to Avalon. However Kilgharrah tells Merlin that Arthur is The Once and Future King and one day he shall rise again. However, hundreds, if not thousands, of years later as an aged Merlin walks past the lake of Avalon there is no sign of Arthur rising. The End.

So yeah, there are a few problems with Merlin, chief amongst these being it's amount of recycled, predictable plots especially the secret evil person within Camelot one... Another flaw is that it could never seem to find a consistent tone, it often managed some good drama and as a result whenever it fell back to slapstick humour whilst the soundtrack was practically just playing wah wah wah, it could be somewhat frustrating as you couldn't tell if the show was trying to be serious or not.

But, despite these and a few other minor flaws, like why does Sir Percival never wear sleeves?, I still found the show to be ultimately a good entertaining watch, particularly from series 3 onwards, where it started to actually have a continuing plot and was bringing a bit more dignity to some of the best stories of folklore in existence.

Because Sir Leon never gets enough credit

Merlin (Colin Morgan): Merlin is the central character of the show, and he starts out okay, but he's so bumbling and dopey that it seems hard to believe he'll become the wise old wizard of legend. That said as the show started to take itself more seriously and Colin Morgan improved as an actor the character became stronger, with a determined resolve and many skills at his disposal. Also developing a strong relationship with Arthur, which is more what you would expect from the two.

Arthur Pendragon (Bradley James): Bradley James is actually a pretty good King Arthur, he started out brash and pompous, but along the way learned humility and what it means to be a great king. It was a pretty good character arc and he did well to give the character dignity as far as was possible.

Morgana Pendragon (Katie McGrath): So Morgana went from being a whiny snob who thought her problems were more important than everyone else's to being basically Rita Repulsa who thought her problems were more important than everyone else's. She was meant to be intimidating and demented when she went evil, but I was always just kind of laughing at how silly it was, I mean come on, she sits around in a giant throne in an abandoned castle between evil missions...

Gwenivere (Angel Coulby): Pretty much my only quibble here is that Gwenivere was played by a black actress... this isn't meant as a racist thing, just that in the sort of time this was set there probably wouldn't be any black people in England, and they certainly wouldn't be allowed to marry royalty if they were. But other than that, she was an okay Gwenivere, though I didn't really see that much chemistry between her and Bradley James... maybe I'm just being overly critical.

Gaius (Richard Wilson): Brining something more of a comic touch, Richard Wilson plays Merlin's mentor and chief father figure for the show and it must be said he does it quite well, giving the role a bit of dignity and nuance, though the one thing he could never get me to believe was his wigs...

Kilgharrah, The Great Dragon (John Hurt): You know how you make a dragon awesome? Give him the voice of John Hurt. The great dragon (whose full name I only know from the Merlin wiki, I usually just call him The John Hurt Dragon) is a very good character, acting as the Merlin figure to Merlin... if you get what I mean... The voice of John Hurt really gives the role a power and epicness that it needed to not become boring.

Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head): He was a good constant threat to Merlin for the first few series, and they took him out of the show at the right time to give Arthur his time as king. Not really a lot to say about the character, but Anthony Head did as good a job as you would expect from a seasoned veteran like him.

In short, an entertaining, but flawed, show, I'd say worth a watch, but you can pretty much skip the first two series.

"Made In America" - The Sopranos - An Overview

The Sopranos tells the story of Italian American Tony Soprano, Mob boss of New Jersey. It delves into his personal and professional life and the problems caused by both of them. Being a HBO drama it doesn't pull any punches with what it will show and do. No character is truly safe and just about anything can happen. As a result it is a very good show.

It has a large cast of characters, especially since every time someone within the mob is killed someone else will take their place. At times it can be hard to remember everyone when so many characters show up, but ultimately the important ones are all very memorable, especially Johnny Sack, Bobby Bacalla and Uncle Junior, just to name a few.

Overall I would say that the best series of the show is series four, as the conflicts were interesting, the drama was intense and it moved forward in a lot of ways that seemed somewhat lost in the final two series. That isn't to say the final two series were bad, just that it peaked at number four.

My favourite overall episode is the series four episode Whoever Did This due to the culmination of a lot of plot threads and an interesting look into Tony's relationship with his nephew Christopher. Another episode of particular note is the series five episode The Test Dream where roughly twenty minutes or so of the episode is an elongated dream sequence, which is done to spectacular effect.

In short, I'd say this is well worth a watch. Definitely one of the most influential shows on modern T.V. drama.

Stephen King Month: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

So, I was looking online to find a video of Bag of Bones so that I could review that, but I couldn't find any links that worked and instead decided to talk about Nightmares and Dreamscapes, an anthology TV show, based on eight of Stephen King's short stories, from 2006

The stories that are shown in the show are Battleground, where a hit man must battle toy soldiers after killing the head of a toy company; Crouch End, where a couple honeymooning in London stumlbe upon a weak point between dimensions; Umney's Last Case, where an author replaces the main character of his own book series; The End Of The Whole Mess, where a successful film maker recounts his brother's attempt to solve world violence and the horrible cost it has; The Road Virus Heads North, where a horror writer is stalked by a painting he buys; The Fifth Quarter, where a recently released convict goes on the hunt for his friend's share of treasure; Autopsy Room Four, where a man has been bitten by a poisonous snake and is alive, but unable to move as they are about to start his autopsy; and You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band, where a couple find themselves in a town populated by dead rock and roll stars.

The series was a lot of fun, though a couple of the episodes are a bit meh. It's the kind of show I would have liked to have seen go on for longer, and be like Stephen King's own version of The Twilight Zone. My personal favourite episodes are Battleground, Umney's Last Case and Autopsy Room Four.

As adaptations, I must say I've not read all these stories, but based on the adaptations of Battleground, Autopsy Room Four and The Road Virus Heads North they were done well and kept all that they needed to, though a couple of things were added here and there to make them a bit more TVish

A Bumper Collection

In short, I'd recommend this series and wish it had got at least a second series

"My ultimate victory, the destruction of reality itself"... Doctor Who - Series 4

First things first this series had to introduce yet another new assistant given Freema Agyeman's departure, and the chosen character was bringing back Catherine Tate's character from The Runaway Bride Donna Noble.

To begin with there was a Children in Need short called Time Crash where The Doctor met his former self, Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, and there was much happiness and fan boy squeeing. This year's Christmas special was Voyage of The Damned featuring the Doctor and Kylie Minogue on the space Titanic in an adventure that is a strong contender for worst Doctor Who serial of all time. The Doctor then meets up with Donna again in Partners In Crime as they stop some living fat with an evil matron... its as dumb as it sounds. Then its off to ancient Pompeii for The Fires of Pompeii where The Doctor has to cause the eruption of Vesuvius to save the world. Then they go to The Planet of The Ood where they learn of the horrible mistreatment of Ood, from Ood Sigma and set them free from their slavery, defeating the evil Tim McInnerney. Then they are called back to London by Martha in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky where they stop the Sontarans and The Doctor meets Donna's grandfather Wilf. Then The Doctor, Donna and Martha get taken to a futuristic war and the Doctor has a female clone made from himself in The Doctor's Daughter and it totally sucks. Then much fun is had as The Doctor and Donna help Agatha Christie solve a murder mystery in The Unicorn and The Wasp. Our heroes then travel to the biggest library in the universe in Silence In The Library/Forest of The Dead , where they meet River Song, who knows an alarming amount about The Doctor and stop the deadly Vashta Nerada, shadow monsters, and River gives her life to save the day so that The Doctor will live to take her on all her adventures in the future. Then we have a Donna-lite episode called Midnight where The Doctor and a group of people are trapped on a bus with a woman possessed by an unknown creature in a really tense and emotional episode. Then we have a Doctor-lite episode in Turn Left where we see what would happen if Donna had never met The Doctor and there is an entire alternate universe created around this, its good, except Rose comes back to help her and to set up a lame cliff hanger by having Donna tell The Doctor bad wolf in a reference back to series 1. The finale two parter is The Stolen Earth/Journey's End where The Daleks, led by their creator, Davros steal the Earth and put it in The Medusa Cascade as part of a series of stolen planets used to make a bomb to destroy reality. The Doctor is nearly killed, pouring his regeneration energy into his hand that was cut off in The Christmas Invasion and then when Donna touches it there is a biological meta crisis and a second half human Doctor is born. teamed up with Martha, Mickey, Sarah-Jane, Captain Jack, Rose and Rose's mum, Sarah Jane's son and the surviving members of Torchwood three (long story) The Doctor, Donna and the DoctorDonna defeat the Daleks and return the Earth to its rightful place, they then return Rose and Jackie to the parallel Earth with the DoctorDonna, safe in the knowledge she can never return and is stuck with a lover who is half made of Catherine Tate... Sadly Donna's collision with the Doctor's D.N.A. means she has to have her memories of him erased, and can never remember the Doctor or she'll die.

Once more David Tennant gamely trudges through the mess of Davies' era Who, and manages to bring some good emotional moments to the forefront of the show. Also his meeting Peter Davison in Time Crash though not technically part of the series is terrific.

Catherine Tate really surprised me by giving an actually terrific performance as Donna, she was funny, clever, had an attitude and never once fancied The Doctor. Its just a shame that considering they spent many times saying how she was the most important person in the Universe she spends 3 episodes in a row sharing with Martha, then two with River Song where her actions contribute nothing, then Midnight where she basically isn't in it, then Turn Left where Davies clearly thought Rose was more important and then the finale sharing with so many people she barely gets to do anything. An actual interesting companion and she got shabby treatment in favour of less interesting ones.

Julian Blech as Davros deserves a mention as he was downright terrifying and brought a lot of energy to the role.

My favourite adventure this series was Midnight and much as it feels weird to pick a Davies episode as my favourite, I can overlook my bias when the episode is this good. But did he really have to make Leslie Sharp's character another Lesbian? (More on Davies PC agenda to come)

My least favourite is without a doubt Voyage of The Damned for just all around awfulness. I really hate that one. But I also want to mention that the finale two parter is pretty dreadful too, with fa too many companions stuck in just because Davies was going to be leaving soon and wanted to shove them in and a plot that breaks the first rule of science fiction by not making any kind of scientific sense. If you put the Earth in another place in space without a sun we'd all die from cold, and if the Earth were to vanish the moon wouldn't stay where it was it would hurtle off into space and if the TARDIS translates all languages why did the Doctor have to speak Judoon? And for the same reason why did Martha have to speak German? And why were the Daleks speaking German? That makes no sense.

In short, a rare shining light in the Davies era, but still annoying in plenty of places.

"You Are Not Alone"... Doctor Who - Series 3

The departure of Billie Piper led to the need of a new assistant for the Doctor, so who did they get to replace this attractive girl from modern day London? Freema Agyeman Another attractive girl from modern day London... sigh...

The beginning of this series is the Christmas special The Runaway Bride wherein The Doctor, with the help of Catherine Tate defeats a giant spider monster. The series then starts proper with Smith and Jones where the Doctor meets Martha Jones, his new companion in a hospital on the moon with Rhino Men called the Judoon who are like space police... it's not anywhere near as cool as it sounds. They then travel to the past and meet William Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code where they defeat aliens and learn the power of words. Then its off back to New Earth for Gridlock where they get stuck in a traffic jam... it sucks, but in the midst of it all The Face of Boe gave the Doctor a glimpse of his future, saying "you are not alone". Then our heroes are off to 30s New York for Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks where a Dalek merges with a human and it sucks... oh and there's a musical number... because when you think Doctor Who you think musical number... Following that nonsense the Doctor takes Martha home only to get mixed up in an adventure with a bad CGI Mark Gatiss monster in The Lazarus Experiment. They then head to a spaceship that was heading towards a living sun in 42 an episode unfortunately similar in design to the devil episodes from the previous series. The Doctor then takes Martha to the past where he turns himself human and lives as a school teacher and falls in love with Jessica Hynes in Human Nature/The Family Of Blood and its actually really good. Then it's a Doctor-lite episode Blink about a young woman who must return the Doctor's TARDIS to him whilst trying not to get killed by The Weeping Angels, statues that move when you're not looking at them. Then we head towards the finale three parter Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords in the first part The Doctor, Martha and a returned Captain Jack go to the end of the universe and meet a group of people who want to make it to Utopia with the help of Proffesor Yana, whose name turns out to be an acronym for You Are Not Alone... which is dumb, he turns out to be the Master, one of The Doctor's deadliest foes, turned into a human in the same way The Doctor was earlier this series; he regenerates into John Simm and steals the TARDIS leaving our heroes trapped at the end of the universe, but not before The Doctor makes it so he can only go to earth. Thanks to Jack's chekov's wrist watch they can time travel back to earth, where they discover the Master is the prime minister, who unleashes and army of creatures called Toclafene, who are actually the humans who went to Utopia twisted to the Master's ends, and he takes over the world and turns the Doctor into and old man and later Dobby. Martha travels the world telling people to think about The Doctor and this somehow fixes him, the Master's wife then shoots him and he refuses to regenerate, so he can defeat the Doctor. They then Superman end it and reverse time so the Master never took over, Martha leaves, The Doctor burns the Master's body and then his ring falls in an obvious Flash Gordon reference. The end.

David Tennant continued to shine as The Doctor despite some of the dross he was given to work with in this series, He deserves particular credit for Human Nature/Family Of Blood for giving quite a moving performance.

Freema Agyeman made history as the Doctor's only black companion to date. She's also shit. Martha just spends the whole time making goo goo eyes at the Doctor and whining because he doesn't notice her. Its boring and not remotely compelling.

John Simm as the Master is great, although once again the script is not his friend, having to dance to the scissor sisters and often act like a bit of an idiot. That said he gives a performance that surpasses the bad script and still manages to be entertaining and fairly intimidating throughout... except for when he's dancing of course...

My favourite adventure this series was Blink partly because its a clever, scary story, partly because it made a Doctor-lite episode work, but mainly because it invented the phrase wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff...

My least favourite adventure was The Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks for just being generally awful.

In short this series is the worst one since the revival (not counting the specials, I'll get to them). It started badly, picked up a bit in the middle and ended with them making it so nothing happened, meaning there are absolutely no consequences and no lessons to be learned. It sucks.

"Maybe that's what the devil is in the end, an idea"... Doctor Who - Series 2

So following the departure of Christopher Eccleston from the role of The Doctor the ole went to David Tennant, who brought a very different take to the role. Also Billie Piper continued on as Rose, much to my annoyance.

To start Tennant's time as The Doctor there was a short filmed specially for Children in Need where The Doctor became accustomed to his new body then sent the TARDIS crashing towards earth, where The Christmas Invasion takes off and the earth is invaded by an alien race called the Sicorax, The Doctor sleeps for the majority of it then fights a guy in a sword fight and loses a hand, which he grows back because he was still full of regeneration energy. Then he and Rose went to New Earth to discover that Cassandra is still alive and it kinda sucks, they move onto Victorian Scotland in Tooth and Claw where they meet Queen Victoria and a werewolf, upon their defeat of the monster and leaving Queen Victoria sets up the Torchwood Institute. The Doctor is then reunited with Sarah-Jane Smith in School Reunion where they defeat Anthony Head and his army of bat creatures and Mickey begins travelling with them as they set off to revolutionary France... on a futuristic spaceship in The Girl In The Fireplace. Then they crash on a parallel earth and witness the creation of a parallel version of the Cybermen (which I refer to as Cybusmen given their creator) in Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel and at the end of the story Mickey takes the place of his alternate world counterpart, finally doing the sensible thing and leaving Rose. The Doctor and Rose then go to 1953 in The Idiot's Lantern and stop an entity living in T.V.s... anyway they then go to a planet orbiting a black hole in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and come up against The Devil... as you do. Following this is the first Doctor-lite episode Love and Monsters which sucks... bad. Then the Doctor and Rose come to 2012 in Fear Her to see the Olympic Torch and save a little girl from an alien with the power of love. Then in the series finale Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday The Daleks and the Cybusmen meet in the middle of Torchwood and fight, The Doctor saves the day, but in the process Rose is sucked into the parallel world never to return... and there was much rejoicing.

David Tennant as The Doctor was a good choice, he gave the role a lot of dignity, but still made him fun. That said I think he's a step down after Eccleston, the main strength of his Doctor is his ability to snap from silly to serious at a moment's notice giving The Doctor occasional menace.

Billie Piper as Rose... I hate this character, she is so selfish and doesn't care about anyone but herself at all, its just awful. I'm glad she left the show.

Overall I'd say this series is quite strong, the return of Sarah-Jane was an inspired touch and Stephen Moffat delivered his usual belter of an episode, but my favourite adventure this series is The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit for the sheer guts it took to do a story with the Devil in it, an actually interesting take on where the idea of the Devil came from, also the introduction of the Ood, one of the most commonly recurring elements of the revived show.

My least favourite adventure this series is Love and Monsters. Designed as a showcase for the winner of a design a monster competition for Blue Peter this episode saw Marc Warren as a blogger talking about experiences with the Doctor, in itself not a terrible idea, but it is awful. There is nothing good in it at all.

To sum up, this is a pretty good series and the Start of David Tennant as The Doctor, but also a step further into Russel T. Davies induced mediocrity...

"I'm in the empire business"... Breaking Bad Series 5 - Part 1

Breaking Bad returns with the beginnings of the end for Walter White, this is the first half of the final series and it is as excellent as you would come to expect from this show. Following the death of Gus Fring the market for meth is left wide open, Walt decides to fill it, going into an uneasy partnership with Jesse and Mike, with Mike only involved to preserve the interests of several members of Gus' crew who are held in prison in the D.E.A. investigation. Skyler is now terrified of Walt and carries out a desperate gambit to keep Walter Jr. and Holly safe from Walt. A new business deal is made with an associate of Gus, a number of complications are brought in by a new member of Walt's crew. The series ends on a huge revelation for Hank.

There is a lot happening in a short space of time here, but the writers pull it off excellently. Every scene is fantastic and they all add up to the emotional climaxes of the half series. The best episode this series is without a doubt episode 5 "Dead-Freight" with a hugely exciting sequence in which Walt and Jesse rob a train of methylamine.

Walt: Walt has come a long way since series 1, the once quiet, boring man who wrote 'murder is wrong' as a reason not to kill a man shrugs off the murder of a child as though it were nothing. From the start of the series he manipulates Jesse even more than usual, he is confrontational to Mike, the one man who sees through all his lies, ending in a hugely traumatic scene. His ego is getting bigger and bigger, he declares he wants an empire and will do anything to keep it; his growing ego also leads to far more carelessness with his money, buying himself and Jr. flashy cars just because he can. He pushes everyone away and it will no doubt lead to his downfall. At the end he is a success, but there is nowhere to go but down when his biggest secret is discovered.

Jesse: Jesse is once again put through the ringer, he feels a huge amount of guilt over trying to kill Walt towards the end of series 4. He breaks it off with his girlfriend based on Walt's manipulation only to discover Walt never cared. He comes up with a brilliant plan to rob a train and not hurt anyone, but then has to witness a child dying before his eyes. This is the final straw, he wants out of the meth business, he parts with Walt not caring if he gets the money he's owed or not. At the end of the series he is terrified of Walt killing him, but is left with the money he's owed an emotional wreck.

Mike: Mike plays a much bigger part this series than ever before, being an equal partner to Walt and Jesse. He is only involved because the D.E.A. took away the hazard pay of several members of Gus' crew, including two million dollars he had left to his Granddaughter, the only person he really cares about. He hates working with Walt and is the first one to want out, and when he receives the money he's owed his choice of delivery man gets it taken away again. With the D.E.A. on his trail he decides to flee the country, and then by refusing to assist Walt and letting him know just how little a man he is, Walt shoots him and he dies, killed by the man who has ruined his life.

Skyler: Skyler is scared of Walt, she knows he's dangerous and is beginning to realise just how much. She goes through a period of not knowing what to do where she seems almost comatose. Then, on the night of Walt's 51st birthday she comes up with a plan. She walks into the pool and fakes a suicide attempt, this allows her to get the kids sent to Hank and Marie's, i.e. away from Walt. It finally dawned on me this series that every time Skyler seemed so annoying and grating before was for one simple reason; she was right. She was the one person saying no to Walt, though now she can't do that, she is powerless. The series ends with her finally given what she wanted, Walt out of the business, but with what's on the horizon her involvement will no doubt come to light.

Hank: Hank has been proved right, no-one believed what he said about Gus, but now he's a hero. He is rapidly promoted to A.S.A.C. of his department, which he finds somewhat difficult to adjust to, not being able to go after the case he wants to. He finds his investigation into Gus' operation blocked at every turn, Mike drops all his tails and the 9 guys in prison won't talk. Towards the end he looks as though he is just about to get some results. Then Walt has the guys killed, he seems defeated telling Walt that he wishes he didn't have to chase monsters. The series ends with Hank in the White's bathroom, he discovers a book of Walt Whitman's poetry left to Walt by Gale, he finally pieces together that Walt is Heisenberg, the man he's been looking for all along.

Saul: Saul plays a somewhat smaller part than usual, he is clearly afraid of Walt, but he's not able to get out. He assists Mike in his troubles with the D.E.A. but apart from that he is largely comic relief. 

Marie: Marie plays a less significant role this series and the plot that doesn't involve her takes centre stage with little time for other matters. That said she still provides some much needed comic relief and still shows a great deal of emotional trauma surrounding Skyler's breakdown.

Walter Jr. Walter Jr. is once again being referred to a Flynn, which seems unusual to me, but I guess since the big fear of his parents splitting up is over he wants his own identity again. He is largely used as a device to distance Skyler from Walt by her seeing how much he loves him, and knowing how dangerous it will be. He also goes into anger at the idea of not being treated with enough respect to even be told why he has to live at his Aunt and Uncle's for an indefinite period of time.

In short, the best show keeps getting better and leaves with a cliffhanger that will have huge repercussions come next summer, when it all comes to an end.

"Just this once, everybody lives" - Doctor Who Series 1: A Review

In 1963 a show came along that changed everything, Doctor Who, a show that has effected people for nearly 50 years... although admittedly with a big gap in the middle due to the cancellation in 1989, however in 2005 it was brought back by Russel T. Davies, who trust me I will talk about somewhere down the line.

For those who don't know Doctor Who tells the story of The Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. He also invariably travels with companions. Being a Time Lord gives The Doctor the ability to regenerate when dying, meaning that when an actor playing The Doctor is ready to leave the show they can bring in a new one, however there can only be 13 Doctors in total.

The series begins with The Doctor, now in his ninth incarnation, landing on earth and picking up Rose Tyler, a young girl from London who comes with the baggage of her mother Jackie and her boyfriend Mickey... whose last name I don't think I've ever known. He meets her stopping the Autons, an enemy from the old series, they then travel to the end of the world and Victorian Cardiff, where they meet Charles Dickens they then travel back to London arriving a year after Rose left causing a few awkward scenes and some horrible comic scenes. While there they stop some aliens called the Slitheen, a family from the planet Raxacorricofallipatorious, who hide in human suits. They then go to an underground museum in the future where they meet a Dalek, in an episode that is actually quite brilliant where it seems the Doctor is more of a monster than the Dalek, The Daleks being the Doctor's most iconic and terrifying enemies. Whilst there they pick up a guy called Adam who they take to a television Satellite in the future he tries to send future information back to the present and is sent home, after the Doctor stops an evil alien monster of course. They then go back in time and Rose stops her father dying, causing massive damage to time and a group of people to be trapped in a church, which is saved when Pete, Rose's father, sacrifices himself. They then go to WWII and meet Captain Jack Harkness a time travelling con man with a heart of gold. Also they stop a terrible threat to the human race by reuniting a scared boy with his mother, and saving everyone in the process. Jack joins there travels. They go to present day Cardiff and whilst there they stop one of the Slitheen who survived, and learn about the heart of the TARDIS. They then get taken into various pop culture references by the Daleks... it's a bit dumb, but they stop the Dalek emperor by Rose looking into the heart of the TARDIS and the Doctor has to absorb the energy of the time vortex from her to save her, sacrificing his current body to do so. He regenerates into the Tenth Doctor.

All in all it was a strong start to the new series for old and new fans alike, it had a lot to offer, some creative stories, The Doctor was a fascinating character, even if Rose wasn't, and you could actually feel the weight of his many years through a wonderful performance by Christopher Eccleston.

But there are problems with it. The main being Rose Tyler, she is an irritating, selfish, whiny bitch. Take for example her relationship with Mickey, she leaves him to run off with some strange man then when in a later episode he tells her he's seeing someone else she acts like he's in the wrong. What a bitch.

Best Adventure: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: The Doctor's WWII adventure with inventive ideas emotional wait and writing by Stephen Moffat, the best thing to happen to Doctor Who in the reboot.

Worst Adventure: The End Of The World: The villain is a piece of skin voiced by Zoe Wannamaker... need I say more?

In short, a good return to the best sci-fi show in the world.

"Last chance to look at me"... Breaking Bad Series 4

Series 4 truly cements Breaking Bad's place as the best show on TV, this series is the darkest yet with Walt on the warpath to try and bring down Gus before Gus gets him. Jesse's addiction sinks to scary new levels, until Gus uses Mike to straighten him out, and to try and turn him against Walt. Skyler is now committed to laundering Walt's money, but becomes involved with trying to save Ted from the IRS. Also Gus' war with the Cartel comes to a violent conclusion. And that's without even mentioning Hank's advances in his search for Heisenberg.

The writing and direction of the episodes are, as ever, on the rise. Each episode is beautifully crafted and plays out perfectly, drawing as much tension and emotion out of them as they can. My favourite episode this series is episode 11 "Crawl Space"... no wait episode 13 "Face Off"... or maybe episode 10 "Salud"... or it could be episode 7 "Problem Dog"... This is not to say that there is no stand out episode this series, but that there are too many stand out episodes to be able to pick a favourite.

Walt: Throughout this series Walt loses the last shreds of the good man that were there at the start of the show, he plots murder from the off and will do anything to achieve it, even poison a child. He fails to understand the trauma Jesse is going through and alienates himself from him with his demands. But despite this you still kind of root for him against the imposing force of Gus.

Jesse: Jesse goes through a hell of a lot this series, it starts with him killing a man for the first time, then he spirals into a deep drug addled depression turning his house into a crack den. Then, through the intervention of Mike he gets clean and starts to take more responsibility in his life. His new family of sorts is put in danger as a result of Walt's battle with Gus and he gets hit hard, he's come a long way from the whiny kid in series 1. A really notable scene for him is in "Problem Dog" where he confesses his attempts to sell the NA members meth.

Skyler: Skyler has made herself involved with Walt's business against his wishes and her demands and drive really grate on him, she becomes every bit as manipulative and underhanded as Walt has, but she does it for the simple reason that Walt has not thought about the consequences of his actions at all. Her presence is somewhat annoying, but played out in a way that makes sense and is essential to the story.

Hank: At the start of the series Hank is angry, he hates that he is useless and hates how Marie sees him differently now and lashes out against her because of it. It isn't until he starts working on trying to find Heisenberg again that he feels good about himself and starts to calm down. Although if he had any success in finding who he's looking for it would bring Walt down, you want him to catch Walt, but at the same time you don't want him to catch Walt, which is interesting to watch.

Gus: This is Gus' series, he goes from strength to strength, we learn his tragic past and see why he wants revenge on the cartel and the extreme lengths he will go to to achieve it. He is terrifying, killing men easily without thought and he is manipulative letting Hank go about his investigation as it poses no real threat. His relationship with Hector is a pivotal thing that provides the series climax and Gus' violent death.

Mike: Mike gets some more meat to his part this series, carrying out Gus' orders and becoming something of a mentor to Jesse, whilst also advising Gus on how to proceed with the Cartel. However the showdown with Don Eladio leads to an injured Mike staying in mexico over the last few episodes of the series.

Saul: Saul has a lot less to do with Walt and Jesse this series, spending a lot of time with Skyler working out how to save Ted from the IRS and by proxy save themselves from the IRS. He also provides his usual comic relief.

Marie: Marie, upon being verbally and mentally abused by Hank, goes back to her kleptomaniac ways, she is put under a lot of strain and has something of a slight breakdown. However in the latter part of the series she plays a considerably reduced part due to not contributing a lot to the overall plot.

Walter Jr.: Walter Jr. gets one especially good bit of emotion this series when he has to comfort an upset Walt and gets to talk frankly with him for one of the first times ever in his life. He still provides a good emotional anchor for Walt in all of the confusion he goes through.

Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis): Hector has been a recurring character in the show since series 2 and as following the climax of the series he will no longer be in the show he deserves recognition for the wonderful character that he is. Paralysed from a stroke, Hector can only speak through ringing a bell, and yet he says more with no words than a lot of actors can say in a whole monologue, a truly wonderful performance worth mentioning.

In short, the best series (so far) of the best show on TV

"No more half measures"... Breaking Bad Series 3

This is a series of change for Breaking Bad, Skyler knows Walt's secret, The R.V. is gone, replaced by an underground meth superlab, Walt and Jesse work for Gus, a serious player with cartel connections, and must answer to him and Mike, his right hand man. In the start of the series Walt is, unbeknownst to him, being pursued by Tuco's cousins, who say very little and still steal damn near every scene they're in with just how badass and scary they are, this culminates in a hugely traumatic event. Then the rest of the series sees Walt and Jesse adapt to their new job, with Jesse gaining something of a family of his own along the way, leading to a discovery that leads to him and Walt getting on the wrong side of Gus setting in motion the events of the next series.

The writing and episodes are stronger than ever, with each one having something fantastic going for it, from the scary tense opening half of the series with the cousins to the calculated strikes by Gus in the latter half making this one of the best and most unpredictable shows on TV. My favourite episode this series is episode 10 "Fly" where Walt and Jesse try and kill a fly that has found its way into the meth lab, this leads to a lot of emotional development for the two, with Walt nearly revealing what he knows about Jane's death.

Walt: As the series begins Walt has lost his family, Skyler knows what he is and what he does and wants a divorce, as such he has no more reason to cook meth, not even an offer of $3 million can convince him, until Gus convinces him by telling him that a man provides for his family no matter what. From there he starts to get cocky, not realising that to Gus he is nothing, and overestimating how much he can get away with, leading to the truly tense cliffhanger at the series end.

Jesse: Jesse falls further than previous series here, as much as he has gotten clean, in his new clearer mind, and with the loss of Jane he goes to dark places, trying to sell meth to recovering addicts at his NA meetings and seriously contemplating the murder of the two responsible for the death of Combo in series 2. Ultimately ending in his carrying out the titular Full Measure in the final episode.

Skyler: Skyler has changed a lot this series, she knows about Walt's criminal activities and becomes involved against her will, making sure he doesn't mess everything up and ruin all their lives. She also wants Walt out of their lives, and will do anything to hurt him, including sleeping with Ted Beneke then visciously telling Walt.

Hank: This is a big series for Hank, the trauma from Tuco and El Passo still inside he starts to go off the deep end and following an incident with Jesse he is suspended from the DEA, then is attacked by the cousins and becomes temporarily paralysed as a result. However before this he starts to get leads in his search for the elusive Heisenberg, leading to the loss of the R.V. in a weirdly devastating scene.

Gus (Giancarlo Esposito): Gus is calm and in control at all times, he knows how to manipulate people and you can always sense a menace beneath his cool exterior. He has children, and though we don't see them, this makes him a lot like Walt in many ways, which is no doubt a deliberate thing to highlight the differences by making them more noticeable against the similarities.

Saul: Saul plays further comic relief whilst also being the voice of reason on many occasions, helping Walt and Jesse to launder their money, he also overestimates how much danger he is personally in, which adds to his comedy.

Mike (Jonathan Banks): Mike is a badass, he is Gus' most trusted confidant and knows the criminal world like the back of his hand. He is often a voice of reason, and always knows how to handle any situation. He also has a young granddaughter who we see him with a few times, which gives him a far more human edge.

Walter Jr.: In this series Walter Jr. starts to lash out against his mother for how unreasonable he feels she is about Walt due to his ignorance of Walt's actions. He still provides several good emotional scenes.

Marie: Marie gets a bit of a step up this series, her comic relief is toned down somewhat following Hank's shooting and she gets some really good emotion out of it all.

To sum up, Breaking Bad's third series just shows how it keeps improving all the time.

"I want you to handle it"... Breaking Bad Series 2

Series 2 of Breaking Bad picks up directly where Series 1 left off and spends the first few episodes dealing with the unresolved Tuco storyline from Series 1 and the aftermath of that. It then moves onto Walt and Jesse's attempts to take Tuco's place and start distributing the meth they are cooking and the problems this causes them, gaining them a new sleazy lawyer, Saul Goodman and a contact into a much bigger operation. Meanwhile Jesse begins a relationship with Jane, his new landlady who is a recovering drug addict and Walt's lies are mounting up, making life at home very difficult. And that's without even mentioning Hank's traumatic trip to El Passo or the cryptic pink teddy bear openings...

It is in this series that Breaking Bad really starts taking off, the characters are deeper, the stories are darker, and as Walt and Jesse rise in the criminal world the risks increase and the consequences of their actions are far worse. The writing is sharper, the characters are stronger and the cinematography is far improved with magnificent visuals, making fantastic use of the landscape of Albuquerque.

My favourite episode this series is episode 9 "4 Days Out" where Walt and Jesse take the RV out into the desert for a long weekend of cooking, and soon get stranded there with no water and no phone service. The emotional development of this episode is fantastic.

Walt: This series sees Walt further accept his Heisenberg persona and uses it to his advantage, getting himself a foot hole in the criminal world. His family life is somewhat falling apart, Skyler does not believe his lies any more and his son is getting distant from him and as such he starts to attach to Jesse a bit more allowing for some really good character development between them. He is also having a hard time balancing his two lives, the hardest scene of this for him is when he has to miss the birth of his daughter so that he can deliver a large amount of meth to his new Cartel contact.

Jesse: Jesse goes through a lot this series, he gets kicked out of his house, loses his car and bike. Then during their attempts to be distributors he has to see a kid living in a crack house, and witness a guy killed horribly, then his friend is shot dead and following a spiral of depression his new girlfriend Jane dies by choking on her vomit. Aaron Paul had grown hugely as an actor and Jesse had matured massively as a character.

Skyler: Skyler becomes a lot more powerful this series, we start to see her true intelligence and how hard she has to try to believe Walt because she doesn't want him to lie to her, but when she knows he is she doesn't accept it, she starts breaking bad a bit herself this series, smoking whilst pregnant and going out all hours without telling Walt where. She also goes back to work as a bookkeeper at Beneke's, which sets up for a much bigger break bad next series.

Hank: This is possibly the biggest character turn around ever, he has gone from being really annoying to being a character that you deeply sympathise with. He begins to get traumatised following having to shoot Tuco, then it gets even worse after he goes to El Passo and witnesses the horrors of what the Cartel do to snitches. This was one of the most sensible decisions to make towards a character, because otherwise Hank would have been annoying as hell forever.

Walter Jr.: Walter Jr. starts to grow slightly more distant from Walt, wanting far more of his own identity and being called Flynn by his friends and Skyler. However he gets closer to him again by the end of the series setting up www.savewalterwhite.com to raise money to get Walt an operation.

Marie: Marie gets some more development this series, as we see her kleptomaniac tendencies and her reaction to Hank's situation. Although she is probably the weakest character.

Saul (Bob Odenkirk): Saul is a great piece of comic relief, he gets a few appearances this series, setting him up to be starring cast in series 3, he's sleazy, manipulative and very, very funny.

To conclude Series 2 is where things start getting magnificent, and it only gets better from here.

"You know the business and I know the Chemistry"... Breaking Bad Series 1

Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White: a High School Chemistry Teacher who discovers he has lung cancer and decides to start cooking crystal meth to provide for his family. He partners up with Jesse Pinkman, an old student of his, who he blackmails by threatening to turn him over to his DEA agent brother in law Hank Schrader. Due to Walt's continuing greed and lack of knowledge regarding the business the two very quickly find themselves in over their heads.

The story is fantastic, sometimes moving a mile a minute, whilst at other times slowly paced and played out for maximum effect. However this series in principally one to set up the characters and allow the audience to develop a connection with them and due the writer's strike is only 7 episodes long, that said they are 7 very good episodes, my personal favourite being episode 3 "... and the bag's in the river" wherein Walt has to decide whether or not to kill a man in cold blood, setting the ground for much of the show's moral dilemmas and also the 'actions have consequences' philosophy of the writing.

Walt (Bryan Cranston): Walt starts out as the most boring and plain man in existence, he moves through life without ever really living it, he contributed to a Nobel Prize winning paper, but teaches chemistry at high school to kids who aren't interested. He makes a monumental decision to break bad and it begins to effect him, he becomes more confident and makes a lot of bad decisions culminating in the creation of his Heisenberg persona.

Jesse (Aaron Paul): Jesse was perfectly happy with things the way they were before Walt showed up, he made enough money and avoided the police and DEA. Suddenly he's being forced to do things he doesn't want to, and he suffers for it, especially in the end when they try to do business with the psychotic Tuco. Also we see his relationship with his family, mainly his parents who hate what their son has become and don't trust him to even be alone with his brother, it was no doubt this difficult home life that led him down the road he is on when the series starts.

Skyler (Anna Gunn): Skyler is Walt's pregnant wife, throughout this series she is largely just there as Walt's motivation, their are clear glimpses of a strong character there, but for this series she does not quite reach the potential she reaches in later series.

Hank (Dean Norris): Hank can be summed up in one word during series one: douche. He is there as pure comic relief and in this series is quite an annoying character.

Walter Jr. (R.J. Mitte): Walter Jr. is Walt and Skylar's son with Cerebral Paulsy, much like Skyler he is mostly there as motivation for Walt, however he does get some decent emotional moments.

Marie (Betsy Brandt): Marie is Skyler's sister and Hank's wife, she is also largely comic relief.

In short, Breaking Bad is a highly competent start to the best show on TV, and though finding its feet and style, it is a must watch so that the rest of the brilliance can be truly appreciated.